In My Arms
by Angels are Watching Over You
Summary: Being a parent isn't easy, especially when you're a single teen-dad and you travel the country hunting evil. [Knowing clouds will rage in / Storms will race in / But you will be safe in my arms / Rains will pour down / Waves will crash around / But you will be safe in my arms] - 4 chapters - (It's better than it sounds, I promise. I just really suck at summaries. :D)
1. his little duckling

_(This story is a songfic, and it's based on an OC that I wrote. I'm attempting a full-length fanfiction with her in it, but I've still got a lot of planning to do for it. However, these little plot bunnies were hopping around in my head, so I needed to get them out. :D I hope you enjoy. A little about the character: her name is Mary Elizabeth Winchester, she has brown hair and blue eyes, and she is Dean's daughter. He was seventeen when she was born, so...) _

_part 1_

_Your baby blues_  
_So full of wonder_  
_Your curly cues_  
_Your contagious smile_  
_And as i watch_  
_You start to grow up_  
_All I can do_  
_is hold you tight_

* * *

Being a parent is never easy. It's rewarding, and the bond between parent and child is something beautiful, but it's never easy. It's even more difficult when you are young – twenty-one years old, to be exact – and single. It's harder still when you travel around the country, hunting down evil and chopping its head off. That's a lesson Dean was learning now, as he looked at his four year old daughter, sitting at the table and eating her cereal.

She was the most beautiful child in the world, and woe be to anyone who said otherwise. Dean Winchester had only three things to be proud of: His baby brother, his car, and his beautiful little girl. She was unexpected, and at first he didn't know what he would do with a child – let alone a little girl – but he knew she couldn't grow up without a father. When her mother died (in an event that may or may not have been demon-related), Dean had no choice but to step up.

Now, he's glad he did. He loved her more than life itself. He couldn't imagine life without his daughter. Sammy loved her too, and so did his dad (as much as John could love anyone). It took a while for John to come to terms with the fact that Dean had a child, and was going to be raising her. All Dean really had to say was that every child needed their father. That seemed to remind John of the fact that his childhood lacked a male figure, and he quickly agreed after that (although he wasn't all too happy about it).

The fact is that Mary – which everyone agreed should be the little angel's name – was a gift to them. All people had to do was see her bright little smile, and her innocent blue eyes, and they were instantly wrapped around her little finger.

So far, she hadn't been curious as to why they travelled around so much. She didn't really wonder why she didn't get to go to daycare, or why they didn't have a house like everyone else seemed to. Dean knew she was already getting the short end of the stick, and he hoped she wouldn't turn out damaged like he had. Yes, it's true that she didn't get to meet many other kids her age, but she still had him and Sammy, and their love was enough for now… right?

He looked to his daughter and noticed that the end of one of her ever-growing, dark-brown curls was dipping in the bowl of cereal. The poor thing was not a morning person.

"Mary," he said.

She perked up when she heard her name, and turned her head slightly to see him. "What?" she asked.

He grinned at the grouchy tone, and said; "Why don't we go to the park today?"

Her eyes instantly brightened, and she smiled. "Really? Can Uncle Sammy come too?" she asked.

Dean tried not to let a frown show on his face. Sam had been spending a lot of time to himself lately. He had been throwing himself into his schoolwork, and whenever Dean asked him about it, he blew him off. It was suspicious behavior, but Dean didn't say anything. It was summer now, though, and Sam didn't have any excuses. He could go to the park with them.

"We'll ask and see, okay?" Dean said.

Mary nodded and jumped down from the chair, eager to find her clothes and get dressed. Sammy walked through the front door with his nose in another book. Dean rolled his eyes a little and let out a heavy sigh.

"Heya, Sammy," he said.

Sam looked surprised, like he didn't expect Dean to be there for some reason. "Oh, hey Dean," he said.

"So Mary and I are going to the park… wanna tag along?"

Sam paused for a second and then said; "No, I think I'm gonna stay here."

Dean frowned. What was wrong with his brother lately? "Dude, what's going on?"

Sam looked up with wide eyes; like Dean had no reason to suspect that anything was going on. "What are you talking about?"

Dean lowered his voice so Mary wouldn't hear. "I know you don't like hunting, so I don't say much when you use homework as an excuse to get out of it, but it's freaking summer, man," he said.

Sam rolled his eyes, and became defensive (like all seventeen-year-olds do) and said; "You're being paranoid, Dean."

Dean didn't say anything because Mary was coming out of the bathroom, with her shoes on the wrong feet, and her ponytails uneven. Dean's sour mood lifted just a little, but not in time apparently.

"What's wrong, daddy?" Mary asked. She was very intuitive. It's almost like she could read your emotions or something.

Dean shook his head. She didn't need to worry about it. She knew when her dad didn't want to talk about something, so she let it go… for now. He rarely got off the hook so easily. She turned her attentions to her Uncle Sammy, and noticed he was in a similar mood.

"C'mon, let's go to the park, okay?" he said.

She nodded and followed him out the door, before taking hold of his hand before crossing the street. They walked to the park, and his sour mood was left at the door of the motel room.

* * *

Dean loved seeing how his daughter's eyes lit up when they saw something new. Today, she was very excited to see the family of ducks swimming in the pond. She talked to each of the ducklings individually, and the mommy duck didn't seem skittish until Dean walked over and sat next to her.

"Whatcha got there, kiddo?" he asked.

"This is the mommy duck," she said. "Her name is Ann."

"Did you name all of them?" he asked with a chuckle.

She nodded. She had a duckling in her lap, and was rubbing its little head. "Daddy, why don't the ducks have an Uncle Sammy, or a Grandpa John?"

Dean paused and thought of the right way to phrase this. "Well, everyone's family is different."

"So they have a mommy duck, because they don't have an Uncle Sammy or Grandpa John?" she asked.

He nodded a little, and then said; "Yes, I guess you could say that."

"So I have an Uncle Sammy and Grandpa John, and that's why I don't have a mommy?" she asked.

He froze, and his heart shattered. As a parent, what do you say to that? How do you tell your child that they don't have a mommy because she died? He simply refused, because he didn't want her to go through the same pain he went through. He was too little to remember when Sammy started asking their dad about their mother, and they were never allowed to talk about her. Unfortunately, it was a rule that Dean had enforced just as much – if not more so – than his dad.

Rather than come out with it, and tell his daughter all about death and the fact that she would never have am mother, he said; "Like I told you before, every family is different. But yours is just right for you," he said.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her close. She rested her head on his side, and he barely heard her when she said _I love you, daddy._

"I love you, too," he said, and she was one of the only people who would ever hear him utter that phrase. They sat there long after the ducklings and their mother had left, and they watched the sun getting lower in the sky. Eventually she fell asleep in his arms and he carried her home, vowing that she would always be safe. He would always protect her, no matter what.

* * *

_Knowing clouds will rage in  
Storms will race in  
But you will be safe in my arms  
Rains will pour down  
Waves will crash around  
But you will be safe in my arms_


	2. best friends and fairytales

_part 2_

_Story books are full of fairy tales  
Of kings and queens and the bluest skies  
My heart is torn just in knowing  
You'll someday see the truth from lies_

* * *

Mary was growing up far too quickly for his liking. She was seven now – _seven! _It seemed like only a week ago he was strapping her into the carseat in the back of the Impala, and bringing her back to a dingy motel room after she was released from the hospital. It seemed like only yesterday he was getting nauseous just thinking about having to take care of a screaming infant for months on end. He remembers his father's warning of _if she costs me rest, you're both out._

Now it was October, and she had just celebrated her birthday a week ago, and where did the time go? She was seven-freaking-years old, and he felt ancient. Dean had worked something out with Bobby – who had always been more of a dad to Dean and his brother than John ever was – and Mary stayed at his place during the school year. Dean wanted her to have a little normalcy, and a bit of stability. He would swing by after every case, and he would visit her on most weekends, and every summer she was on the road with them.

Of course, there really wasn't a _them_ anymore. The fellowship was broken – so to speak – as if it had ever been whole in the first place. Sammy had left the day he turned eighteen. He had gotten into Stanford, and Dean was left abandoned to take his father's verbal abuse (but never in the presence of Mary, of course. Even John Winchester had his limits.)

Speaking of John, he couldn't make it to the birthday party this year. Bobby was about fed up with the man and his priorities, and he made it known, too. Dean wanted to agree, but he still idolized his father. He didn't say anything against Bobby's opinion, but that didn't mean he had to agree with it.

Mary was still all-smiles when they brought out the cake Bobby had baked himself, and Dean used his lighter to light the candles. Right before she blew them out, there was a knock at the door. Mary smiled the biggest smile Dean had ever seen, and ran to the front door. She threw it open to see a little boy standing on the other side.

"_Jamie!"_ she had shouted.

"_Hey Mary, happy birthday,"_ he had said.

After introductions were made, Dean learned that Jamie was Mary's _bestest friend_ from school. He learned that Jamie's aunt took him in after his parents' died, and she worked two jobs to support them, and that they lived in a small apartment in town. Strangely enough, they didn't meet at school. Jamie was with his aunt when her car was towed to the junkyard, and they waited inside while Bobby worked on the vehicle. He was very glad that she was making new friends and becoming more social. Maybe there was hope for her yet.

Her birthday was a happy occasion, even though there were some key people missing from the picture. Jamie's present to Mary was a book of fairytales, and she hadn't put it down since. That's what she was reading when Dean went to tell her goodnight, but instead of a happy smile (that he assumed fairytales were supposed to bring) she had tears on her cheeks.

"Hey, princess: what's wrong?" he asked.

She looked startled and put the book down. "This story is so sad, daddy," she said.

He sat next to her on the bed. He noticed the page she was on. There was a picture of a mermaid, and from what Dean remembered, the mermaid story was supposed to be a happy one, right? Weren't there talking animals and a happy ending? "What happened in the story?" he asked.

She explained how the mermaid ended up killing herself by the end of the story, and it was so sad because the princess is supposed to live happily ever after. Princesses and heroes just weren't supposed to die. He pulled her into a hug, and kissed her forehead. "It's just a story, sweetheart."

She nodded into his shirt and her tears seemed to dry. He stayed there to sing her lullaby, and promised them a day out tomorrow (which almost always meant they'd go get burgers and ice cream). Before she fell asleep, she seemed to have another thought.

"Daddy," she asked, in a half-asleep state.

"Hm?"

"Will you die someday too?" she asked.

"I'm not going anywhere, princess. Not yet – I promise," he said.

She didn't answer, because while he was speaking, she fell asleep. No, he wouldn't die – not yet anyway. He had to stay here to keep her safe.

* * *

_When the clouds will rage in_  
_Storms will race in_  
_But you will be safe in my arms_  
_Rains will pour down_  
_Waves will crash around_  
_But you will be safe in my arms_


	3. am i special

_part 3_

_Castles – they might crumble  
Dreams may not come true  
But you are never all alone  
'Cause I will always,  
Always love you  
Hey I,  
Hey I,_

* * *

Mary is pinned to the wall when Lilith lets the hounds in the room. She's next to her uncle Sammy, and she can't help the scream that tears from her throat when she sees her father's guts being torn to shreds. Sam is having pretty much the same reaction as her, just without the high-pitched scream. There is horror in his eyes. She tries to turn her face away, but the demon has pinned her in such a way that she'll see this – no matter what.

"No!" Sam shouts, for what seems like the millionth time.

"Yes!" Lilith replies. It sounds like she finally got something she had wanted for a very long time.

She turned to Sam and Mary before holding out her hand – palm forward – and blasting them with a beam of white light. Mary drops to the floor next to her uncle, and they block their faces from the blast, but nothing happens. Isn't the blinding-white demon light supposed to fry them to a crisp or something? She looks to them in confusion, and after trading a look with Mary, Sam stands to stalk towards Lilith. Mary doesn't bother. She crawls to her father's dead body, even though she knows there isn't anything she can do now.

It all comes crashing down around her. When she realizes that he really is dead – and when she sees how Sam starts sobbing – she can't help the tears that soak her face. She just can't hold them back anymore. They're both kneeling there, crying over the corpse, and she gets the hiccups from sobbing so hard. She barely registers when Bobby comes in to help the family hiding in the basement. She barely registers what he and Sam are saying.

She doesn't really understand that she's being unresponsive until Sam picks up Dean's body, and Bobby picks up her. Suddenly she has to get away. She has to see her father's face, even if he is… no, she can't bring herself to even _think_ it.

He promised. He promised that he wouldn't leave her. He never broke his promises!

She kicked and wriggled as Bobby kept a firm hold on her. He wouldn't let her see her dad's body, but she _needed_ to see him. But, the more she thought about it, the more she wondered why. Why did she need to see him? He had lied to her. He broke his promise, and now she was going to be all alone. That thought made her stop kicking and flailing, and she broke down into tears.

She watched Sam and Bobby dig the grave to put her father's coffin into. She and Sam had built the coffin himself. It was uneven, and the craftsmanship left something to be desired, but it was something they had to do for him. He deserved to be buried in something. Bobby had tried to talk Sam into the regular salt-and-burn routine, but he wouldn't hear of it. She had to agree. She couldn't imagine her father's body burning away to nothing. There had to be some sort of evidence of his time on Earth.

She didn't help as they lifted the coffin and placed it in the ground, and she didn't move from her spot in front of the cross she had made. Eventually, Bobby left to get them both a blanket (after he saw that she wasn't going anywhere for a while), but left her with a gun and some holy water while he was gone. After he left, it didn't take long for her to break down. Tears from blue eyes fell down freckled cheeks, and her lips quivered without pause. She had never cried this hard before, and it hurt. Dammit, it _hurt_. She felt like she was being torn in two – something was wrong.

She no longer had her father her to hold her tight and keep her safe.


	4. heartbreak

_part 4_

_When the clouds will rage in  
Storms will race in  
But you will be safe in my arms  
Rains will pour down  
Waves will crash around  
But you will be safe in my arms, in my arms_

* * *

Mary was seventeen now, and Dean longed for the days when his little girl looked up to him, and mirrored everything he did. He longed for the days when he was her hero. Of course, his daughter was still with him. She stuck by his side no matter what, and he knew she still loved him. It was just different, now. She was all grown up, and he wished he had time to do it all over again, because he feels like he's missed so much. For example, why didn't he notice that she'd gotten so into boys?

It's not like she'd dated a boy for a long period of time before. She had gone on one date with a boy named Matt, and it was a double date with her best friend Jamie and his girlfriend Rosa. Apparently nothing happened, and there was no second date. In the midst of the Apocalypse – or the after effects – how could she get a date? Dean felt like he had failed her there.

However, now she was confined to the bunker with a prophet who was just around her age, and Dean didn't know how he didn't see it before. The two of them instantly cliqued when they met. Their personalities suited each other, and she wanted to make sure Kevin was okay. He was one of the first people she'd opened up to and gotten close to since her father's death (the first time).

Dean could try to defend himself – and his claims would be valid – by saying that there was a lot going on, and sometimes things don't get his full attention like they should. He could say all of these things, and no one would call him a liar, but it wouldn't be the full truth. The reason he didn't see it is because he didn't _want_ to see it. He didn't really open his eyes and see how close they were until he walked in on them watching a movie once.

Mary would sporadically make sure that Kevin was taking breaks and eating – or bathing – and tonight was no exception. Dean had left on a supply run, and when he came back, the two of them were nowhere to be found. He looked everywhere – on the verge of panicking – until he heard a scream. He ran down the hall to the room Mary had set up for movies, and all of his panic slowly left when he saw that it was just a movie, and the pretty blonde girl was about to die at the hands of the monster. Mary, however, was perfectly fine. She was sitting on one end of the sofa with her feet propped up on the table in front of her, and her head resting on her left hand. She must've been exhausted.

But, where was Kevin?

He looked around the room and finally found the prophet lying on the sofa with his head in Mary's lap. Her fingers were threaded through his hair, like she had been running them through it, and he had a peaceful look on his face (for once). Immediately he wanted to wake them both up and pull them apart, but Sam came into the room and noticed the two of them. He pulled Dean out of there and gave him a big long speech about how Mary's almost an adult, and Dean needs to treat her like one.

But she was still his daughter, dammit. He had to make sure she was okay. He didn't bring up what he saw, though. Sam practically forbade it, and he didn't want an awkward chick-flick moment anyway.

A week later, he caught them kissing in the kitchen. He had gone on a supply run, once again (the last one he'd ever go on, if he had anything to say about it), and he returned to see them all over each other. (Okay, so maybe it wasn't as bad as he said. Sam does reprimand him for having his dad-goggles on all the time. Apparently they make everything seem ten-times worse than they really are when Mary is involved.) In reality, if he looks back on it, he knows it was probably just an innocent kiss. He didn't really understand what made him so angry – it kind of just happened.

He had cleared his throat, which caused the two of them to jump and break apart from each other. After everything was said and done, Dean had lost his temper which ended in Mary being grounded and Kevin being banned from speaking to her. The older Winchester could get a bit dramatic. Mary had given him the evil-eye before running to her room, and Kevin just looked mildly terrified before going back to his tablet translations.

Dean didn't sleep well that night. He hated knowing Mary was angry at him. It had been a week now, and he barely saw Mary. She took the grounding quite literally, and she hadn't left her room except for extreme circumstances when she absolutely needed food or the bathroom. She always made sure he wasn't in the room, though. If he was in the room, she didn't even look at him. She walked by him like he didn't even exist, and he hated it.

He wanted to lift her punishment, but wouldn't that be going back on what he said? Wouldn't it lessen his authority here? Maybe, but it was worth it to have his daughter happy and his household peaceful again. After dealing with Ezekiel and trying to find Metatron, he really wanted the bunker to be somewhere he could escape to, to get away from all the evils outside. He'd have to think about it a little more.

He'd do that while working this case with his brother (and, of course, Ezekiel). He wanted to know what was taking so long to heal Sam. Why was Ezekiel still there? Shouldn't Sam be healed by now? He voiced his concerns during the case, and was give vague answers to every single one. Eventually he had to return to the bunker for research, and he had to get help from Kevin and Mary.

Mary was less willing to help than Kevin was, but she did it anyway. He had to leave after a while to hit the road again, but Mary seemed to get that she was ungrounded now, and he didn't even have to say anything. No chick-flick moments…

The two teens stayed on the research (Dean made sure to tell them that it was research, because this was more important than making out in the middle of the kitchen). He gets them looking for a spell to power down an angel so that Sam can expel the angel in his body.

Mary looked exhausted after a while, so he sent her to get some rest, but she didn't stay gone for long. She met him in the hallway, pursuing a very pissed-off Sam into the next room. She stopped him to ask why Sam looked so upset, and he told her everything. It all came spilling out and he couldn't stop it. She seemed disturbed at the information, but she told him she understood why he did it, even though it was the wrong thing to do. It was a backhanded comment, but at least she was talking to him again.

They rounded the corner into the room and saw Sam with his hand on Kevin's forehead. A bright light shot out of his eyes, and Kevin screamed before Sam let go and the prophet's body fell to the floor.

"No!" Mary shouted.

She tried to run to Kevin's body – as did Dean – but the angel in Sam held them off. "Sam?" Dean asked.

"There is no more Sam," the angel said, "but I played him convincingly I thought."

"How did you…"

"I heard you talking with Kevin tonight," he replied. He packed a bag as he spoke. "Alter a sigil... even the slightest... Alter the spell." He held up his hand – Sam's hand – to show the dust of the markings on his fingers. "I'm sorry about Kevin, but it was ultimately for the best. I did what I had to do."

When the angel in Sam leaves – taking Sam's body with him – Mary and Dean are finally free to move. She rushes next to Kevin, and already there are tears in her eyes. She manages to choke out a sob that sounds like "No…"

All of this is his fault. Dean is 100% responsible for this, and he'll never be able to make it okay. He doesn't know what to do, so he just sinks to the floor next to her and lets her cry into his shirt. He wraps his arms around her like he's done so many times before, and he keeps her as safe as he can.

* * *

_Thank you for reading! _

_Please review! _

_Have a wonderful day, and God Bless! :D_


End file.
